


For Brethren to Dwell Together

by cosmosatyrus



Category: Star Trek (2009)
Genre: Hanukkah, Holidays, Multi, Ramadan, Yule
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-28
Updated: 2009-11-28
Packaged: 2017-10-27 15:52:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/297517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmosatyrus/pseuds/cosmosatyrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Turns out that Chanukah, Solstice, Ramadan, and Christmas coincide in 2258. I looked it up <a href="http://www.hebcal.com/hebcal/">Here</a> and <a href="http://www.phys.uu.nl/~vgent/islam/islam_tabcal.htm">here.</a> Weird, huh? So, in exchange for adorableness and <a href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n37/kilala10/ChekovSuluChanukah.jpg">cartoon latkes</a> by <a href="http://kilala10.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://kilala10.livejournal.com/"><b>kilala10</b></a>, I wrote this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Brethren to Dwell Together

_****_Kirk was in the rec room, deep into a game of 3-D chess with Spock while Uhura played an old tune on the Vulcan lute. She sang of silver bells and streets and shops in the city and even McCoy, watching the game from his perch nearby, simply listened to the song. Chekov tapped Kirk's shoulder, eyes big and blue as usual. "Keptin?" When Kirk waited a heartbeat too long to respond, he tapped again, "Keptin?"

"Yeah, Checkers, what's up?" Kirk made his move and Spock examined the board, fingers still steepled in front of his lips and eyebrow slowly creeping up.

"I was wondering..." He held his lips tight and looked off into a corner of the ceiling, "I was wondering, sir, if maybe you would do the honor of lighting the candle tonight? It is the first night and I do not know anyone yet to celebrate with."

"What?" Kirk was confused, the kid's birthday wasn't 'til 2259.161 and it was 2258.355. They were counting down the days 'til he turned eighteen and planning a big party with a real cake and everything.

Chekov's eyes narrowed and he cocked his head to one side like a bird, "I thought you were _Yevry_ , like me?"

McCoy crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow, seemingly a bit confused himself. Spock took a pawn and moved it up a level and explained, "I believe the Ensign is referring to the celebration of Chanukah, which begins this evening. Am I correct?"

"No, sir. I am actually late. Chanukah was early this morning, but I was trying to find someone to celebrate with, so now I am very late." Now Spock was confused, "Sundown in Moscow was at 0723 Federation Standard Time."

Three heads nodded in a sudden and unified understanding. "Well, 'sundown' on the ship isn't for another couple hours," Kirk smiled, patting Chekov's shoulder, "So, I'll come up with a menorah and candles and we'll meet back here, okay?"

"Yes, sir! Thank you, sir!" He beamed and straightened himself, standing to his full 185cm.

"Oh, and Ensign?" Kirk patted his own head, "Bring an extra kippah, wouldja?"

"Yes, sir! Of course, sir!" He practically bounced away, stopping to chat excitedly with Sulu as they left the rec room hand-in-hand.

The ship's chapel was occupied and Kirk paced outside the door, wondering if he should override and go in or wait 'til whatever ceremony or ritual was going on to finish up. Fate decided for him as two crewmen and a lieutenant in regulation black headscarves approached with armfuls of food. "Ladies."

"Are you joining us for breaking the fast tonight, Captain? Laura brought cookies." The crewman in question, a young woman in sciences, held a basket on her elbow that was stuffed full of perfectly round cookies with some kind of nut baked in.

"Not tonight, Lieutenant. I've got something else I need to do, but I promise I'll join you before the month is over. Far be it for me to turn down cookies." He eyeballed them once more, thinking how buttery and tasty they must be.

The door whooshed open and an Ensign in command gold, smiled, "Oh, hey, Captain! If I'd have known you wanted in, I'd have cut you a door. She had red hair and a nice smile and wore a blue and grey braided cord across her shoulder. "C'mon in!" Inside, there was tall, blonde crewman from Engineering with a braided cord around his hips in red, gold, and white, a dark haired Lieutenant Commander from Sciences with a similar cord over her shoulder, and a sweet-faced yeoman with a single white cord around her waist. The Lieutenant Commander saluted and the rest followed suit, but it was a relaxed and informal gesture. "We just finished up." The chapel was dimly lit, but the candles and faint smell of incense made the space warm and inviting. "So nice to see you, Marah, and thank you for inviting us." She took some of the food, set it on a table inside, and soon they were all arranging things neatly and gathering chairs for what looked to be quite a feast. "Are you going to stay, Captain? The Commander makes a mean piroshki."

"I do," the short-haired woman from Sciences responded.

Kirk suddenly wished, and not for the first time, that he could be in two places at once. "I'm just looking for some candles."

"Second cabinet to the left of the altar," the red-haired Ensign pointed into the sanctuary and before he could take three steps in, the Yeoman and the Commander already had a menorah and candles in hand.

"We can have Chanukah here, sir, if you like." The Lieutenant Commander practically dumped the items into his arms as the Yeoman grinned and nodded.

"How did you know-?"

"I am a scientist, sir," was her only response. "Yeoman Miles will set things up. We'll wait on you."

The Captain handed the menorah and candles back to the Yeoman, "As you were. I'll be back at 1615 hrs." He walked back to the rec room, a bit puzzled. He'd taken the required hours of diversity and crew cohesion training, but no one had ever told him what the holiday season would be like. He wasn't particularly religious and hadn't thought about it much and now that he was eyeballs deep in holiday preparation, he found it frantic and busy. But the crew of the Enterprise was handling it as capably as they had handled Nero's madness. There was a smoothness to it, a feeling of things falling into place.

Chekov nearly crashed into him, holding a handful of little round caps, "I did not know which one you would want, sir, so I brought them all." He wore a blue one, intricately embroidered with pictures and something he couldn't quite make out in Hebrew. Sulu's was red and black and he fussed with it, apparently unaccustomed to feeling the slight weight of a kippah on his head.

The last time Kirk had worn one was his bar mitzvah and only then at the behest of his Uncle Bill. "Thank you, Chekov." He chose a plain black one and pinned it on.

"Looks good on you," McCoy had walked up, Spock at his side. The doctor smiled as though laughing internally at some private joke, but Kirk maintained the dignity of command in spite of the electric feeling that rushed into his chest and down his spine. This was more than lust; McCoy's presence shook him in some way that he couldn't identify.

"Thanks." They met in the chapel a few minutes later and everything looked ready.

Yeoman Miles handed him a PADD, "I took the liberty, sir, of bringing up the text of the prayer - just in case."

"Thank you, Yeoman." They didn't sit according to rank. The habit had been drilled into them from their earliest days of Starfleet training, but most left their stripes (or lack thereof) at the door when entering the chapel. Kirk's place was at the head of the table with McCoy to his right and Chekov to his left and the captain took a moment to look around at those who had gathered. He remained standing, not quite ready to light the candles, "I look around this table and I see an assembly of people that would have been impossible a mere two hundred years ago. I stand here tonight, not as your captain, but as a Jew, and we are here to celebrate a miracle. Not only are we celebrating the miracle of the oil, when G-d took that which was meant to last for only a day and gave us eight, but also the miracle of existence. I look to my left and I see a fellow Jew whose faith and dedication brought me here, a Buddhist, and devoted Muslims honoring the month of Ramadan. To my right, I see a Christian, a Vulcan, and a group of pagans who have just celebrated the Solstice. It's a miracle we're here. There was a time when a Christian would rather chew glass than sit at the same table as a pagan and there was a time when a Jew would rather kill than sit next to a Muslim, but here we are, ready to feast together. It's rare that all of our holidays coincide and maybe it's fate. Instead of the scheduling nightmare it should have been, we're here, celebrating together for the first holiday season of our five year mission. You are my crew and my family and I trust each and every one of you with my life. Thank you." McCoy smiled, head slightly bowed and Kirk felt that surge down his spine once more. "As I say the Shehecheyanu, remember the miracle of that which brought us to this moment, of survival, of living, of peace."

"Amen." Chekov interjected.

"Amen." The crew said in unison.

Kirk smiled and began the blessings, glancing at the PADD to remember the words:

"Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam  
Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe.  
asher kidishanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu l'had'lik neir shel Chanukah  
who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the candles of Chanukah.  
Amen"

All repeated the Amen and Kirk continued:

"Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam  
Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe  
she'asah nisim laavoteinu bayamim haheim baziman hazeh.  
Who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time.  
Amen."

"Amen." They spoke louder this time and Kirk began the Shehecheyanu.

"Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam  
Blessed are you, Lord our G-d, King of the Universe  
shehecheyanu v'kihumanu v'higi'anu laz'man hazeh.  
who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.  
Amen."

They spoke now as one voice, one crew, one team. "Amen."

Kirk lit the candles and Chekov began to sing, as though by habit, or instinct, or reflex, the sound of his voice clear and sweet:

Hiney ma tov u’manayim Shevet akh-im gam ya-khad.  
Hiney ma tov u’manayim Shevet akh-im gam ya-khad.  
Hiney ma tov, Hine-ey ma tov.  
Lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai  
Hiney ma tov, Hine-ey ma tov.  
Lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai

He continued in Standard and though accented, the words were easily understood:

Behold how good and pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together  
Behold how good and pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together  
In unity, to dwell in unity,  
Lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai  
In unity to dwell in unity,  
Lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai lai

The ensign continued for two more verses, ending the last line at a slower tempo. The Lieutenant in the black headscarf stood and read something in Arabic from her PADD and sat down again, "Well?" she gestured toward the food, "Are we going to eat or what? I'm starving!"

They dug in and Chekov's eyes went wide, "Piroshki!" He piled his plate high with the little half-moon dumplings, dousing them in sour cream. They ate and chatted as the candles shrank and eventually extinguished themselves. Kirk shifted in his chair, suddenly finding that the CMO was a bit too close and feeling unsettled by the fact that he didn't mind the proximity. As the meal concluded and they parted ways, they made plans to do it again. On the second night, a dark-skinned Ensign in a skullcap greeted the captain at the conclusion of their evening prayers. The small group of pagans arrived ten minutes late, but with armfuls of food and once everything was laid out and ready, Kirk said the prayers again and lit the second candle. There were two more people the third night and five more on the fourth.

On the fifth night, almost the entire bridge crew was there, including Lieutenant Riley. "Who's driving this boat, anyway?" Kirk asked as someone passed him a slice of bread.

"Lieutenant Kelso has the conn, sir," Spock replied, "but I will return to the bridge if you feel it is necessary."

"No, stay. He can handle things for a couple hours." The first officer acknowledged with a nod as Chekov passed a plate of latkes to Sulu. The Lieutenant took a bite of one and smiled. They were close and Kirk found himself envying what they had, a pilot and navigator so meant for each other that it must be true love. He leaned against the archway that divided the sanctuary and the room that held the table and watched them kiss. He looked away and down at his boots, not wanting to intrude on their romantic moment. When he looked up again, there was McCoy, and something about the way his CMO looked at him made him feel exposed.

The doctor looked up at something hanging in the doorway and then straight at him. "Mistletoe. It's tradition, you know." McCoy took two steps closer and the captain felt his stomach flutter. Kirk looked into his eyes, fighting the feeling of vulnerability that stabbed through his chest. McCoy leaned in and when lips touched lips, the captain simply gave in. Everything melted away around them and fell silent as in deference to the kiss and the love that suddenly and unexpectedly moved between them.

When they moved apart, Kirk found himself flustered, "Bones, I-"

McCoy's mouth turned up on one side and he looked flushed in the dim light, "Merry Christmas, Jim."

Kirk laughed and rubbed the back of his head before smashing another kiss to McCoy's lips, "Merry Christmas, Bones."


End file.
